TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA--While the Florida Supreme Court considers the
legality of a law keeping Terri Schiavo alive, her family is trying a new
tactic to spare her life.

Terri's husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, has claimed that his wife
told him, before her 1990 collapse, that she would not want to live by
"artificial means". Mr. Schiavo has used this as the reason to ask courts to
allow him to have her feeding tube pulled so she will die of starvation and
dehydration.

But Terri's parents, who have been battling to keep her alive, now argue
that their daughter would not want to die in that manner, especially in light
of recent proclamations by the Roman Catholic Church.

According to Cybercast News Service, Bob and Mary Schindler filed a
28-page memorandum of law citing "a substantial change in circumstances that
the court must consider" in deciding whether to set aside the 2000 order that
originally gave Mr. Schiavo permission to have his wife's food and water
withdrawn.

The Schindlers were referring to a March 2004 address by Pope John Paul
II, in which he said that giving food and water always represents "a natural
means of preserving life" and that its use should be considered "ordinary and
proportionate and as such morally obligatory."

Terri was a devout Catholic for all of her young life. The memorandum
asserts that she would "never willingly defy the Holy Father's teaching by
consenting to conduct that is now morally forbidden by the Church." Allowing
her to die in this manner now would, therefore, violate her rights guaranteed
by the U.S. and Florida Constitutions, as well as Florida statutory and common
law, it claims.

Terri, 40, collapsed and was without oxygen for several minutes in
February of 1990. Several doctors have testified that she is in a persistent
vegetative state, that she cannot meaningfully interact with her environment
and will not recover. Mr. Schiavo first petitioned a local court in 1998 to
have Terri's feeding tube removed so she would die.

Terri's parents, and several other doctors, believe Terri is responsive
and interacts with her surroundings and would benefit from therapies that her
husband has refused to allow. They have gone head-to-head with Mr. Schaivo and
his attorney to keep her alive.

Mr. Schiavo did not mention what he now claims were Terri's wishes
during a 1992 malpractice suit, at the same time that he presented evidence
regarding the cost of a life-long care plan. That malpractice trial brought
more than $700,000 for Terri's care during her natural life, which medical
experts agreed could last several decades.

The Schindlers and others suggest that Mr. Schiavo has abused and
exploited his wife -- before and after her collapse. They have pointed out that
he should be removed as her guardian, especially in light of the fact that he
has been living with a woman, whom he refers to as his "fiancée" and
with whom he has fathered two children, for nearly a decade.

Mr. Schiavo was successful in getting a local court to allow Terri's
feeding tube removed last October 16. Governor Jeb Bush, with the urging of
disability rights groups and right-to-life advocates, championed "Terri's Law"
through the Legislature, allowing him to order the feeding tube reinserted six
days later.

Mr. Schiavo challenged the law, arguing that it violated Terri's right
to privacy, and threatened to undermine the separation of powers provisions in
the Florida Constitution. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on
August 31.

Disability rights groups have been following Terri's situation for
years, arguing that allowing her to die by starvation would reinforce the
message that the lives of people with certain disabilities are not worth
living. A coalition of 18 disability groups filed an amicus ("friend of the
court") brief supporting Bush in the Supreme Court case.

"What we're worried about is that medical professionals and families
will get the idea that it's OK to starve to death and dehydrate people with
severe cognitive disabilities," Diane Coleman, president of the disability
rights group Not Dead Yet, told the Los Angeles Times.